BENGALURU:
Residents of HSR Layout woke up to an unpleasant sight on Wednesday —
smoke emanating from the
Karnataka Compost Development Corporation (
KCDC) plant near
Somasundarapalya Lake.
The residents claimed the smoke was nothing but methane being emitted from the large quantity of highly combustible refuse-derived fuel (RDF), being accumulated at the plant for many years now.
Sankar Sarma, a resident, said the smoke could be seen for half an hour, and was later cleared by the plant staff. “The amount of RDF being stored at the site has increased significantly. Due to intermittent rain and sun over the past few days and with 12,000 tonnes of flammable material kept in the open, methane was produced. We are at risk as even a small spark can lead to a massive fire. We alerted the authorities and KCDC workers cleared the area,” he said.
Lamenting that there was no provision for a fire tender on the spot, he said: “In case of an emergency, help has to be sought fromoutside.”
Residents have approached authorities on many occasions and protested demanding closure of the plant.
